Eluvia
ELUVIA ‘Think not of our coming as a burden but as a blessing. Before you were primitive people. Now you are worthy to be in our company.’ Nickname: The Sorcerers Languages: Eluvian Population: Säuger 5%, Eluvian 94% and Drummon 1% Government: Meritocracy/Democracy Leadership: Elected Council Lifestyle: Independent, academic, flexible. SOCIETY Unlike most other societies, amongst the Eluvians one’s talents and abilities are valued above any thought of bloodlines or wealth. Eluvians are expected to find talent within themselves and use this to the support or betterment of themselves and their society. For the most part public positions of power are filled by people who self-nominate and are then voted on by the appropriate colleagues or interested parties. So a town mayor will be a local citizen chosen by all to lead, or the head of a Mage School will be the teacher who has shown both the most aptitude as a leader and a person that staff agree they can follow. Eluvian youth are encouraged in any talent they show, but many still value the paths of magic above all others. It is common for most Eluvians to have at least some skill in Evocation, Elementalism or Ritualism, and they represent a large proportion of the members of the Mage Guild. Since it was the Eluvians who first taught the use of magic to the Sauger and the Drummon this is to be expected, but some Eluvian have over the centuries come to reject this and refuse to learn anything of the magical arts. Such communities have grown up around the edges of the lands claimed by Eluvia, where they choose to live close with the land around them without resorting to magical manipulation of it. Eluvia is home to the Mage Schools, and they have adopted the other Guilds as useful mechanisms for teaching required skills. Leadership of these are always chosen by nominating and voting on the most talented members. The government is generally formed by individuals talented in academia, cultural lores and languages, and generally managing people. Anyone may nominate themselves for a particular position, and ask for support from those eligible to vote on that particular position. Some do hold the view that those who choose to go into public service such as this do so only because they show no true talent for any of the valued arts or industries. Elected mayors and councils lead each settlement large or small, and a council elected from the ranks of the bureaucracy make 26 decisions of national importance. From this council sometimes one might be chosen to represent all of Eluvia at international events, such as the election of the High King, and often ambassadors to other nations are elected for the purpose of representing Eluvia. LAW The elected leaders and council of each settlement are responsible for overseeing matters of justice. Most often they will employ a group of armsmen to keep the peace, and act as judge or jury for any misdemeanors brought before them. Incarceration alone is a rare sentence, with recompense to the victims of any crime either in coin or in work being more often required. Those guilty who refuse to co-operate with their sentences may be imprisoned whilst being made to do the work required of them, or until enough of their personal goods are sold off to cover their fines. In the case of severe infringements execution may be required, but only in cases where murder with intent is proven. Examples of justice include the instigator of a tavern brawl being required to pay for the repair of damages and for the care of anyone injured; a bandit who steals from travelers (without harming) being required to return all money and goods and work on the upkeep of roads for a year; a fellow bandit who killed his victims being executed. EDUCATION AND TRAINING Most Eluvian will begin to learn the arts they see around them from an early age. All are taught general academics until old enough to choose their own path, though those who show particular ability for a specific area might be given extra instruction in that talent. Apprenticeships might be given to students of great talent, but most are taught in class groups until old enough to be trusted to work alone. All Eluvians are expected to have a good knowledge of the world, of their society and find a talent that can be used to improve the life of those around them. Most also learn the magical arts alongside academics since it is so pervasive in the society, and many seek to make this their life work given its complexity and high value. TRADE AND INDUSTRY Eluvia supports several major cities as well as widespread towns, most having been at least partially built through magical manipulation of the stone and water. Farming and other resource production relies heavily on magical manipulation, although other industries cannot incorporate such skills as easily. Eluvia’s strong relationship with Septoria and Drummon allows much of its needs to be seen to through imports, allowing more of its citizenry the time to pursue the respected paths of academia and research. MAGIC Members of schools of magic are the most highly regarded individuals in Eluvian society, and children are usually taught the basics of at least one type as a part of their normal schooling. Most members of Eluvian settlements will have some aptitude with magic and use it as a matter of course in their everyday lives. Farmers use it to till the soil, craftsmen to shape their work, armsmen have spells ready to release in their roles as guards or soldiers and academics use the portal stones to travel to meet each other at opposite ends of the land with great frequency. There are some however who reject this heritage, seeing reliance on it as a cause of the cataclysm that brought the Eluvians to this place, and responsible for other atrocities over the centuries. They choose to live outside of the cities of Eluvia, away from the industries so steeped in magic, and will refuse to teach its mysteries to their children. 27 RELIGION Eluvians usually have little interest in religion, and it has not been part of their culture until the recent centuries. Their oldest tales do not mention any gods, but instead speak of the Eluvian people themselves having abilities now only attributed to the direct intervention of Rund, Halb or Dahr. The stories do mention the creation of the world, but do not dwell on the powers of the gods nor mention what respect or responsibilities the Eluvian people owe them. Instead all power is attributed to the Eluvian people themselves, with the legends saying that in the time before memory Eluvian lived without fear of death. Age and illness were unknown to the Eluvian ancestors, and even mortal injury could not dampen their life. Houses of the gods have been established in the major centers of Eluvia, but often this is for the comfort of visitors. Very few Eluvians feel the call to become Dedicated, so these places are most often overseen by those of Sauger descent who now live in Eluvia. NAMES AND LANGUAGE The Eluvian language has evolved since it came into contact with the Sauger and Drummon, such that the modern tongue is entirely distinct from the old form used now only among the mages and occasion ceremonies in Eluvia. While the script has been maintained, pronunciation has changed enough that a modern Eluvian word is often spelt differently than its base for in Old Eluvian, and may often also have an alternative meaning. Many words from the neighboring Sauger languages have been incorporated, and entirely new vernacular created to explain many concepts that the first Eluvians did not comprehend. Old Eluvian is the language most often used in the texts of mages though and so many born in Eluvia, and more across the other nations, undertake to teach themselves the dying tongue to maintain the knowledge of the past. Example family names: Carmine, Elmarion, Finneres, Gilithion, Nimeol, Rimmith, Silerion Example personal names: Anlar, Clareol, Finbeleas, Ganealin, Girelias, Lirael, Melsaerion, Niraeleth, Rael, Sindriel, Therasiel, DRESS Most Eluvians are conservative in their dress, and though it will differ depending on industry they often favour long robes and gowns. Wealth is not a symbol of status and so jewelry and other such accessories are not overly common. Floor length robes are used by both men and women, with draped sleeves and wide sashes as belts. More practical clothes are used in outdoor crafts, and favored far more by those who have chosen to live in the outskirt communities away from the mages and academics. HISTORY Eluvian history has many tales of great heroes and battles, of knights who could not be killed and great towers of learning and culture. They also tell of a time of great change, but stories of cataclysm center on the battles fought and enemies who forced the great changes on their people. The Eluvian have ever fought off the conniving grendlers, creatures of low culture but high intelligence. Their history speaks of a great war that culminated in open battle, both sides employing all the magics and monstrous allies at their disposal. The enemy employed a great power against them, something that destroyed not only the warriors on the field but all the land around them. Disoriented warriors regained their awareness to find themselves surrounded by a strange landscape and even stranger sky. The forest and towers they were fighting to protect 28 had vanished, in place a long lakeside and low trees that sheltered the remains of squat wooden buildings, many burning or destroyed by the magics that had been released. The grendler armies regained their awareness as the Eluvian did, and those who had survived the blast rejoined in battle. But quickly they found their magics did not work as they expected, and their injured did not stand to rejoin the fight. The grendlers’ weapon had robbed them of their control and so the Eluvians were forced to retreat to the forest. The grendlers too left the field, spreading out across the new land, pillaging and killing all in their path. The Eluvians healed their wounded as best they knew how, but the hindrance to their magic twisted its purpose and returned only misshapen flesh and incomplete will to their fallen comrades. The poor creatures dragged themselves from the field, and it is said the woods still ring with the voices of those who should be dead. Unsure of their location the army of Eluvian spread out across the region. They met strange creatures, animals who walked upright and spoke with words not grunts. Many attacked the Eluvians at first meeting, each not knowing of the intelligence of the other. Many Sauger were destroyed in ignorance, and many more fell to the knives of the grendlers, who also spread throughout the area and who would not hesitate to kill what they did not understand. The Eluvian established homes of their own, defending them against the local Sauger who they saw as savages, and the endless raids of grendlers who would not make for themselves what they could take from their neighbors. After years of study and speculation the Eluvian elders felt that they understood the weapon that had brought them to this strange place, and found a way to increase the power of their magics once more. By focusing into the strange stone outcroppings they found their magic was concentrated and they gathered in all their remaining people to return home. Their attempt failed, causing nothing more than an explosion of power that once again disoriented all gathered and destroyed much of the town the Eluvians had built around the stone. Disheartened, the Eluvian were forced to expand the borders of their newly claimed lands to survive and rebuild, their exploration bringing them into conflict with all the surrounding nations. The Sauger armies found it hard to defend against their magic, and so even a relatively small number of Eluvian were able to devastate any force a nation could raise. But the limitation on their magic remained, and for several years the Eluvians continued to use the old way of reviving their injured, and even tried to revive the bodies of Sauger cut down in their battles. Each time the flesh refused to knit and often the mind remained empty, leaving many foul creatures to wander the region – neither dead nor quite alive. What the Eluvian people did not understand was that the area they inhabited was already occupied, by Sauger people from nations including Randwelt in the south, Septoria in the west and the Anari people who occupied lands around the rivers and lakes where the Eluvians first appeared. However none of the peoples of these lands were any match for the Eluvian warriors. The people of the lakes, the Anari (River Folk) were scattered entirely, some fleeing to the neighboring countries of Randwelt and Toraneya, while most fled into the mountains of stone in the former countries east. The people of Randwelt were forced to retreat also, and ceded much of their once vast lands to the alien Eluvians. With these mounting pressures, the Sauger each turned their armies upon Eluvia. First the Randwelt pressured by the surviving Anari that had fled south, committed their knights to the cause. Due to a misunderstanding with the Toraneyan warrior monks resulted in the destruction of a temple, the Toraneya unleashed its warriors and priests to the cause. The Kenaani, ever the opportunists, assisted in their endeavors. Although the Eluvians powers of magic were great, their lack of numbers meant dire consequences for Eluvia. 29 At this time Eluvian records its first contact with the Drummon people. They were found in the mountain to the east. Some Sauger had inhabited the mountains once, and some Anari had fled into the west but seemed mostly to have succumbed to the influx of grendlers, Drummon and the savage orax creatures. The strange Drummon did not use any magic at all, though told stories of having lived in a place quite different from this until cataclysm dropped them here among the strange Sauger. While their first dealings were somewhat hostile, the Eluvian soon found a stout ally in the doughty Drummon, and together they faced the continuing attacks of the Sauger surrounding them. Upon meeting the Sauger to the west, those who dwell in the land of Septoria, Eluvian would find a breakthrough that they required. Upon finding this land they were compelled to provide assistance to the struggling Sauger who lived it seemed in a state of utter chaos and destruction. In these Sauger they saw the potential for a strong ally if they could help them recover from their own folly. For several months the Eluvian who travelled to this land worked with the Sauger there to reestablish their civilization. They used their magic to heal and till the land ravaged by famine and healed many under the grip of a dreaded plague tearing through the populace. They Septorians also showed an aptitude for magic and the Eluvians were fascinated with how they were able to learn the simple magics that they were teaching them, curious of the result. The Septorians, in turn gave the Eluvians the Septorian language and customs – such as the use of currency, and were able to forge an alliance as close as with the Drummon to the east. These forces together were able to hold off the attacking Sauger, until finally a peace was negotiated by Jeroen, the leader of the southern Sauger forces. The combined power of the remaining Sauger nations had been unable to drive away the Eluvian and Drummon from their newly claimed land, and though some little territory was returned as a part of negotiations, the modern borders of the nations were decided. Much was also lost to the ravaging of the orax and grendlers, leaving swathes of uninhabited territory across central Dantir, which to this day remain places of great danger to travelers. The Eluvian people could not return to their homeland, and could not vacate the land they had come to occupy over the generations of war, and so the few Anari who survived the war have remained homeless ever since. The Anari are known to travel every other nation of the mainland, but will not use the portal stones, nor any other form of magic, and refuse to enter within the borders of modern Eluvia, which they still see as their home. There is little a modern Eluvian can do for them since they often avoid Eluvians wherever they may meet, and every attempt to offer them recompense or the chance to resettle within Eluvia (alongside the Eluvian people) has been met with scorn or silence. Since this time Eluvia has been recognized as an independent nation, and at the insistence of Jeroen, the first High King, they were accepted as observers at the court of the High King. After several centuries Eluvia was allowed to take part in the vote on the appointment of the High King, but has never yet had a candidate accepted into the role. ENVIRONMENT Eluvia stretches across the western arm of the mainland of Dantir, with a short coast as its northern border. It encompasses several rivers and lakes both large and small, and is considered quite fertile from border to border. While it claims part of the central mountain range it does not mine them as thoroughly as the Drummon or Randwelt, nor does it clear forests to make way for expansive farmland. Instead the Eluvian use their magic to encourage the natural open land to produce what they need, preferring to keep the environment around them as natural as possible. The climate is temperate, quite mild in all places except perhaps in the mountain heights, and production is easily managed by relatively few farmers. How others see the Eluvian people: Avantine – Such conjurers of cheap tricks are nothing when compared to the ingenuity of our Intellectus Septorian – Speak ill of the Eluvian? You do not seem to be on the path of living long my friend! Drummon –We are diametrically opposite and we knew them not in the time before. But they came to our aid unlooked for and have earned our respect and alliance. Toraneya – The gods have given them a second chance at life. Should another temple be destroyed by their hands we will not be as merciful Jorgenwyld – Such power is of little use if it is not used. Randwelt –.Perhaps in us they will be able to learn nobility and become more than the power they wield Ekhai Lāhui –Abuse the power of the land at your own risk. Kenaan – Let us hope that we never have cause to war with them once more. At least until we have mastered their powers. Category:Nations Category:Eluvia